What a leap ahead this would be for Amtrak Dining Car Service in accuracy, speed and customer satisfaction. Just used one of these terminals yesterday for lunch at a local Chili’s.
Like anything high tech - to be successful, it has to work.
Took my daughter to lunch several months ago to a Chili’s - system was down.
I’ll take a Texas managed Chili’s any day of the week over another part of the country. Never had a problem or seen a problem with the system locally. Generally though restaurants are better managed in Texas than other parts of the country and the service is a lot faster because the market is more competitive down here. So happy my consulting project near Chicago ended. They have two speeds in a Chicago restaurant…slow and slower. Meals in a Chicago suburban restaurant averages about 1.25 to 1.5 hours vs 40-45 minutes in Texas. Which do you think makes more money?
So much for the ‘magic 20’ at the Waffle House!
More seriously – where is ACY in this thread? We need to hear from actual Amtrak personnel about how they think this system would benefit their ways of doing things.
Currently working!
What are the data sources for the comparison of restaurant management practices and serving speeds in the United States, i.e. document, page numbers, methodologies for gathering, processing and analyzing the data, etc. vs. Texas for example?
I think Amtrak has good, cost effective, satisfied customer system in place —on Acela. It shoujld be system-wide. That is my opinion.
Overmod: I ain’t dead yet. Actually, I’m not familiar with the Chili’s system. Haven’t been there in years because I always thought their food was too salty & I’m less able to tolerate the hot stuff nowadays. I couldn’t get the system to show up on my screen. If this system relies on the ability to communicate in real time through the ether, I’m suspicious of it. It’s a pain in the neck when we’re traveling through the hinterlands & can’t get a signal. If it’s self-contained, that might be a different story. Right now, it’s probably best for me to be a bit restrained in what I say about the situation re. Amtrak’s food service policies & practices, since I’m not authorized to speak for the Company. Hope you guys (and gals) understand. ACY
Marketing is important. 1.2 hours in one place and a half hour in another means nothing on a train. On a train you have to know how many diners you have to fit into the dining car during a given dinner hour. Then you’ve got to figure what fare you need have based on those dining. You don’t want to serve filet mingon when porterhouse or sirloin or swiss steak would fit the pocketbook and tastes better.
But an intriguing thought comes to mind. With the mentioning of Chili’s. Chili’s is a pretty good mid level, mass taste, pale blue collar fare. But maybe an Applebees or Ruy Tuesday’s…similar levels of fare…were to be contracted with so that service could be delivered aboard at stations where there is a franchise or restaurant of that chain. And it could be plates designed for Amtrak and not found on company’s regular menus. Take orders for dinner leaving NYP and have them boarded at Stamford or MetroPark or Harmon for instance. This is just a way out thing that came to my mind but would have to be explored and planned by those in the rail dinning car marketing department along with specific chain restaurants along given routes…you could even do a Chilis’ and an Applbees’ and a McDonalds and a Long John Silvers along the same route and change from region to region…All that Amtrak has to have is a microwave, a coffee pot, and a refrigerator in the galley and no more than 4 or 5 people in the service (each being able to wait the table, service the ordering, and service the food when it arrives aboard,
Look up “ziosk” and you’ll find some of the technical details. Chili’s is just one example of a company that uses the technology. I have little doubt that Amtrak could adapt the system to its own particular needs and priorities – actual needs, not perceived ‘pretty interface’ needs…
The ‘customer’ features are pretty much internal, with the “critical” radio links for customer ordering being handled internally, presumably on the train’s WiFi network.
Extended services might require some external data, but this would be relatively low-bandwidth, and much of it (customer special dietary needs or preferences, for instance) could be preloaded at times an external network connection can be made.
If the system is extended to make ‘pick-up’ ordering from stops practical, I suspect no more data capacity would be needed than that available over a commercial cell-phone connection; in ‘the boonies’ you might need a femtocell or two in strategic locations to allow enough ‘lead time’ – but this is a cinch to configure and perhaps not that much expense to provide relative to benefits.
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Right now, it’s probably best for me to be a bit restrained in what I say about the situation re. Amtrak’s food service policies & practices, since I’m not authorize
Hey, don’t pick on Waffle House! I love Waffle House! I love anyplace where you have to show a pack of cigarettes to get in!
I feel like I’m being painted into a corner. I know you aren’t trying to put me on the spot, but I feel very confident in my knowledge of what IS, but not so confident of my knowledge of how this would work. I guess I’ll have to go to Chili’s and see this thing in operation. First, in the current climate, the cost of installing ANY new system would probably get in the way, no matter how inexpensive the initial installation is. I’m basically a technophobe, so I’m naturally suspicious of it. When I take orders in the dining car, I like the personal interaction. If people want substitutions or other special arrangements, I can do that in a personal interaction and communicate it accurately to the chef. The personal touch also helps to improve the whole dining car experience, in my opinion. On my train, we get WiFi in the lounge car, which is separated from the diner by three sleepers. So WiFi in the diner is a kind of non-starter. Right now, we bring 60 - 64 passengers into the diner. Each end of the diner has 8 tables, for a total of 32 seats. My partner and I work one end, and the LSAD and her partner work the other. As soon as patrons sit down, they can begin eating their salads and bread, which were placed on the tables beforehand. Once the first 2-3 tables are filled, my partner starts asking seated patrons for their beverage orders while I finish seating the rest of the passengers. When the last tables are filled, I follow in my partner’s footsteps and start taking meal orders. Once I’ve taken the orders at four tables, I send those orders to the kitchen and resume taking orders at the remaining four tables. When I’ve finished that, I start removing empty salad bowls and start serving the meals, which should have started coming up. My partner continues with beverage orders, although we work as a team and fill in for each other as needed. I don’t really see how this system will speed up the process, improve the service, or save any money or effort. Maybe
Back in the day when only the more affluent and business people travelled by train you needed a higher standard of dining experience in both food and atmosphere. But with today, except for select “tourist routes” such fare is not needed. While gourmet fare and fine dining are no longer needed, there still has to be an extra effort to present a meal worthy of the event of dining aboard a train but to a less opulent clientele and one not on an expense account. So lets get rid of the need for fancy dining and get to the need of feeding the customers aboard today’s trains. No, it can’t be fast food from a drive in either. So why not forgo the old railroad traditions and seek options from the concrete roads by contracting with one or more national chain and franchise restaurants to provide meals not too different than you’d find along the Interstates and even go as far as I suggested earlier that these chains be able to call on sites along train’s routes to supply freshly prepared (as much as they might be fresh) to be microwaved and served aboard. Applebees, T.G. Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. are known menus and qualities. Even if a meal costs a couple bucks more than alongside I80 it is still digestible economically and as a known commodity.
I’m a dinosaur. DEFINITELY time for me to retire (next month).
I don’t think I could disagree more. But that doesn’t mean the subject doe not deserve discussion.
The EXPERIENCE of dinner on the train is one of the most significant aspects – and it would suffer if not given the current level of personal attention. To the extent a Ziosk system does not assist in providing that experience, it is misapplied.
They do mention one feature that may … or may not … be of value: the little light on the top that signals for the “wait staff”. (My version had colors for different kinds of staff, and a blink code for different reasons, to save the staff time and confusion during the rush). Presumably, though, this would produce the same sort of dread that mine did in testing.
It would be very nice to have this system in a less-than-full-dining car setup, particularly one where some of the food itself has been ‘outsourced’. But I really don’t see branded Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday’s replacing dining-car fare. I don’t eat at those sorts of places because I want proper food in proper restaurant portions. That’s not to say they can’t be options for the dining clientele – they should. But the actual service, and perhaps no small part of the prep, would still remain the responsibility of the staff. You aren&#
Riding in a train is no longer the elitist way of traveling as it was before, say, 1950…it is much more “plebeian” than before, much like our society leveling off in wealth and heritage. The broader or mass of the population who can afford travel is nuveau, more used to the mass offerings of society than the special offerings of the more wealthy and ahead of our lesser roots. Therefore dining car fare need not be Delmonico’s on wheels. But nor can or nor should be Micky D’s. My “etc.” was to include the likes of Red Lobster and other chains…even regional chains to add spice to the fare. And I’m not sure Cracker Barrel is the choice either. I am just throwing out a concept which would have to be market defined, researched and tested then redefined and refined to work. I do think it has to be better than normal fare, but not gourmet or fine dining by any means.
My go-to answer is always to apply the K.I.S.S. principle. Imagine the situation with HEP down. Cooking comes to a screeching halt. But if we can get the orders taken, then the chef can be ready to start the instant he/she gets power. If order-taking relies on having power, then the whole process is delayed all the more. “For want of a nail, the horse was lost…” Sometimes it comes down to the simple things. Besides, as I said, I don’t think Amtrak is going to initiate any program that requires ANY cash outlay. Of course, I’m not able to speak for the Company.
Whatever the dining niche ends up being, it should cover the costs of providing. Amtrak’s charter is to provide transport, not be the restaurant on wheels…
Red Lobster is part of Darden. So let Darden do it and you have food possibilities from Longhorn, Bonefish, Season’s 52, Capitol Grill and Olive Garden, as well.
Getting Darden on board and giving them some profit incentive would likely be good all around. Amtrak would be small incremental business for them.
You don’t want the standard salad that comes with your meal? $4 gets you a premium salad. You want a bigger fillet? Okay, $5 more. You want creme brulee instead of pie and ice cream…etc.
Again I vote for adopting the Acela approach nationwide. Having a second party adds costs, and there are union problems as well.